Notre Dame's Brian Kelly named the coach of the year

Like many of his predecessors in South Bend, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has hit all the right notes in the third year of his tenure with the program. Much like Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz, former coaches who led Notre Dame to a national title in their third years, Kelly has the Irish on the doorstep of the school's first championship since 1988.

In honor of his run at perfection, Kelly was named Thursday as the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America, becoming the fourth Notre Dame coach to win the award – after Parseghian in 1964, Holtz in 1988 and Charlie Weis in 2005.

"It is with great pleasure the FWAA presents the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award to Brian Kelly," said 2012 FWAA President Lenn Robbins. "Notre Dame, under Coach Kelly, has returned to national prominence in the college football ranks. This award recognizes that accomplishment for the 2012 season, a season that began with 124 teams vying for an elusive undefeated campaign. Notre Dame was the only bowl-eligible school to accomplish that impressive feat."

Kelly was selected from among eight other finalists for the award: Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, Ohio State's Urban Meyer, UCLA's Jim Mora, Penn State's Bill O'Brien, Georgia's Mark Richt, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Louisville's Charlie Strong and Alabama's Nick Saban.

Notre Dame will meet Saban and Alabama on Jan. 7 in the BCS National Championship Game.

After back-to-back 8-5 seasons from 2010-11, Kelly's team broke through in 2012. The Irish, the No. 1 team in every major poll, beat four ranked teams to finish the regular season 12-0. January's game against Alabama will mark the program's first BCS appearance since the 2006 season.

Kelly heads into the postseason with 28-10 record at Notre Dame and a career record of 199-67-2 after stints at Grand Valley State (1991-2003), Central Michigan (2004-6), Cincinnati (2007-9) and with the Irish. He was named the American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and the Big East Coach of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2009.